more supermarket stuff...

As some of you will be aware, I’ve previously expressed my strong concerns about the big-six supermarkets and the implications for our High Streets (frankly, it may already be too late). Yesterday, lovely friend Lal made reference to this wickedly amusing blog post on the subject following this week’s riots.
Back in May (to his credit?), Cameron commissioned a review into the future of the high street (led by Mary Porta, broadcaster and retail guru). It’s due to report back in October.
In the meantime, Labour has launched a stinging attack on Tesco – calling it an “almighty conglomerate” (no doubt, Asda and Sainsbury’s will support Labour’s stand – just because it’s anti-Tesco!).
Last weekend’s Guardian magazine contained a powerful (and demoralising) article by John Harris. Examples from Stokes Croft (inevitably!), Sheringham, Frome, and Dorridge are cited in demonstrating the power (and effectiveness) of the supermarkets in gaining planning approval – and how they are constantly able to “win” consents due to the lack of funds available for Local Authorities to fight planning appeals (when compared with the supermarkets’ treasure chests) and the supermarkets’ ready ability to agree Section 106 conditions to enable surgeries, libraries and the like to be funded (or land provided)…. patronising blood money to all intents and purposes. The all-too-familiar stories of how Councils end up capitulating (eventually) to pressure by the supermarket fraternity are worrying (as we well know with our recently-approved, massive Sainsbury’s in Bedminster).
Frighteningly, one planning consent doesn’t mean that the other supermarkets simply go away. Oh no. This situation, as outlined in Harris’s article, is pretty typical, I suspect (note: Eorica Mildmay is an anti-supermarket campaigner from Norfolk): “Back in Sheringham, I mention the campaign in Frome, but Mildmay is not in the mood to make me feel better. ‘These people will not take no for an answer,’ she says. Her face darkens. ‘We have it on good authority that since Tesco won, there's a possibility of Asda and Waitrose coming to Holt. There might be a Lidl in Cromer. People who read the trade magazines were watching us. The worry is that now we've got zapped, it'll become a free-for-all. And heaven help us."
Just a look at the following figures will surely convince you that “things just aren’t right” when it comes to supermarkets. Again, from Harris’s article:
“There are just over 8,000 supermarkets in the UK, and they account for 97% of total grocery sales. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons take 76% of that market. Their share of non-food retailing currently stands at 14%, a figure up by 75% since 2003. In the two years up to November 2010, planning permission was granted to 480 stores run by the Big Four, which works out at one supermarket every other day. Since 2008, they have accounted for 87% of the retail floor space given planning permission. In May, Channel 4 News reported that by 2014 retail space operated by the Big Four was set to increase by 20%: as its report put it, ‘an expansion drive on a scale never seen before’….
“Once planning permission has been granted and another supermarket goes up, the inevitable happens: local traders suffer, and many go out of business – whether the supermarket is out of town or, in line with modern trends, closer to the centre. I have a stack of personal testimony that makes this point, but the words I usually reach for are those of Gerard Jones, the owner of a window blinds and dry-cleaning business in Ystrad Mynach, south Wales, who has watched as Tesco has done its worst on a site 400 yards from his town centre. ‘Tesco have muscled in and destroyed our community as we know it,’ he told a local planning hearing in late 2010. ‘Every venture we have tried in the town centre has been shanghaied by this organisation. Footfall has fallen and nobody can truthfully say Tesco has brought shoppers into the town centre. It has taken 100 years to build our community. It doesn't take long to throw that all away.’”
The Tory Government, who clearly sees any criticism of its retail policies as a threat to “healthy competition”, has responded with: "Town centre planning policy is not pro- or anti-supermarkets. Planning cannot seek to restrict lawful competition between retailers; in fact, planning policy is blind to whether the operator of a retail proposal is a supermarket or an independent."
Well, actually, I think there's a very strong case to say it SHOULD!

sarah's key

If a film features Kristin Scott Thomas then you (well, ok, me!) just know that it’ll be worth seeing. The retired/school-university holiday crew (Gareth, Iona, Eilidh, Moira+me) went to the Watershed yesterday afternoon to see Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s latest film. It’s based on Taliana de Rosnay’s novel about a shocking, little-known moment of French history. It’s partly set in Paris in 1942 and tells the story of when Jews were being rounded up at the Nazis' bidding, herded into a sports centre before being sent on to the death camps. The “Sarah” from the film’s title is a 10-year old who escapes from one of the death camps; KST plays a journalist researching the story. It’s an impressive, powerful film – slightly spoilt, in my view, by the somewhat over-schmaltzy last few minutes.
Certainly worth seeing.
PS: I know this shows my age, but the name of this film reminded me of Sarah Keays (of Cecil Parkinson fame)! Maybe they should have come up with a different name to the film, just to avoid embarrassment to the old Thatcherite faithful?

mindless+beyond understanding: the vicious circle

We should fear for society:
• BREAKDOWN OF FAMILY VALUES/LACK OF PARENTAL CONTROL.
• LACK OF MORAL VALUES.
• Complete lack of respect for others and for property.
• Disillusioned teenagers/teenage immaturity.
• Peer pressure.
• Lack of facilities and opportunities.
• Low aspirations/sense of worth.
• Disinterest in education/lack of application.
• No sense of consequences for actions.
• Self-fulfilling outcomes.
• Lack of role models.
• Boredom and a sense of pointlessness.
• Greed in a consumerist society.
• Distain/resentment of police and “authority” in general.
• Power through intimidation.
• Unemployment (or prospect of unemployment).
• BREAKDOWN OF FAMILY VALUES/LACK OF PARENTAL CONTROL.
• LACK OF MORAL VALUES.

What hope for these children’s children?

surely, this can’t be right1?: worth

I have a feeling that this blog title might be one that I’ll revisit over the coming months! Please bear with me because I suspect it will take a little time to explain myself….
On Saturday night, I did two rather unusual things (for me). Firstly, I watched some television and, secondly, I stayed up until well past 10.30pm! I hadn’t really intended to do so, but decided to see the start of the Mahler’s Symphony no.2 Prom on BBC2 (my favourite composer) and to see the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela “in action” – I’d heard wonderful things about them after their last Prom performance in 2007. Of course, I ended up watching it to the very end (and became quite emotional in the process!). Their performance was simply mesmerising; absolutely stunning. Although it hardly does justice to the whole piece, you can see/hear the final two minutes or so here. You can also see what the Guardian’s critic made of it by clicking here.
The orchestra, led by its electrifying conductor Gustavo Dudamel, has an average age of just 24. This fantastic orchestra is the flagship of an education system which gives young people the chance to learn an instrument, getting them away from drugs, guns and crime in the barrios. “El Sistema” is a publicly financed voluntary sector music education programme in Venezuela, originally called Social Action for Music; it is a state foundation which watches over the country's 125 youth orchestras and the instrumental training programmes which make them possible. El Sistema has 31 symphony orchestras - but its greatest achievement is the 250,000 children who attend its music schools around the country, 90% of them from poor socio-economic backgrounds. I particularly love its motto: “To Play and to Fight”. For El Sistema’s musicians, this means “undertaking music as a collective experience which also involves individual effort; it entails a relentless pursuit of excellence and, above all, it means persevering until dreams become reality”.
For some reason, I went to bed contrasting this musical experience with the world of football (yes, I know, very strange!).
The orchestra had just played for over 90 minutes. All of its members were stunning musicians in their own right and had rehearsed as a unit to produce a simply magical “team” performance. I don’t know how much they earn for doing this but I don’t imagine it’s mega-money (or anything like it). As just one example, Manchester City FC is a football team awash with several highly-paid “stars”. One of its latest recruits, Sergio Aguero, is a 23 year-old Argentina striker signed recently for £38m. He has a five year contract at a reported weekly wage of £200,000 (that’s just another £52m over the next FIVE years – in other words, an expenditure of just £90million for ONE player!). He will presumably play in most games for 90 minutes; he’s clearly a gifted player technically and he too will have been training with his colleagues in the hope of producing a simply magical individual and “team” performance.
As much as I love sport, I find the contrast of this orchestra and this football player/team worrying in the extreme and just can’t reconcile the massive differences in their respective monetary worth or perceived values. I know people often refer to football as “the beautiful game” but, frankly, after sitting through the orchestra’s sublime performance, I don’t think football – with all its obscene money - comes close by comparison.
Photo: Gustavo Dudamel and Sergio Aguero – contrasting play-makers?
PS: As a complete aside, I’ve just been checking how long it would have taken me to earn the £52million Sergio will be earning over the next FIVE years (taking a conservative view of my old school salary)… the answer is just a LITTLE frightening: 2,849 years – or until the year 4860! I MIGHT not live that long…. Absolutely ridiculous, isn’t it! It's obscene. It's just plain WRONG.

the worst salesman in the world….

Day One of our experimental appearance at the Harbourside Market didn’t actually go wonderfully well. I’d decided to have a regular stall during August and September (pitches are free during this time!) and use it as a showcase to sell Ruth’s, Hannah’s and my art work.
In five hours, I sold just ONE item (a £10 print)…. and even that didn’t happen until 5 minutes before the end!
This was the sum TOTAL revenue for the entire day. I didn’t even sell a single card (which I found very hard to comprehend). When Hannah has previously had a stall at the market, I don’t think she’s ever failed to clear £100. Consequently, I’m left feeling a little deflated – especially as I thought that the stuff I was “selling” was pretty good. Some reflections:
1. Clearly, this week’s slump in the world’s stock markets has had an instant devastating adverse effect on the Bristol art market!
2. On the positive side, I did manage to cram the entire stall into the back of our tiny Citroen C2 and managed to erect everything pretty quickly and efficiently.
3. It was lovely to be visited by Stu+Iris+Rosa, Gareth+Alan+Iona+Eilidh, Emma+Liz and Bruce+Gracie during the course of the day (and, of course, Moira – who helped with car parking and general encouragement!).
4. Lots of people said some very nice things about the work I was trying to sell.
5. The weather was pretty good.
6. For the first time in ages, there were plenty of stalls (something to do with the zero charge perhaps?)
7. I couldn’t compete with the Bordeaux Quay bread stall opposite or the cheese stall alongside!
8. The harbourside is a favourite through-route for stag and hen party groups!
9. Next time, I think I’m going to come up with catchy by-line (like that strange greengrocer bloke on East Street?): “come and get ya arty stuff here ladies and gentlemen… you know it makes sense”…. think I’ll need to do a bit better than that (or maybe just a song and a dance?).
10. Clearly, now that the Art connoisseurs of Bristol know about the stall, they’ll roll up in their hundreds next Saturday.
Emma suggested that I needed to ask the question: “What would they do on the Apprentice?”.
I think Sir Alan would just point the finger and say the magic words….
Photo: the art stall BEFORE the crowds came flocking (it looked pretty much like this after they’d been too!) - obviously this doesn't include my happy smiling face behind the counter!

the tree of life… and into the wild

Moira+I (+Gareth, Iona+Eilidh) went to the Watershed yesterday to see Malick’s long-awaited latest film. I knew from reactions of other friends who’d seen it that it would be a film to ponder…. and I’m certainly still pondering!
The film opens with a quotation from the book of Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" and I think this fittingly set the scene for how Malick wanted us to see the film: perhaps a combination of a prayer, a poem, a family drama and an exploration of humanity, faith and life itself. At times (particularly in sequences at the beginning and end), it felt like watching “2001, A Space Odyssey".
The film follows the story of a mid-western family in the 1950s and, in particular, the life journey of the eldest son: the complicated relationship with his father (played by Brad Pitt)(who saw the survival of the fittest as the key to success in life) and that of his long-suffering mother (whose life encapsulated selflessness and sacrifice)… culminating with him, as a disillusioned adult (on the verge of a break-down?), trying to find answers to the origins and meaning of life. The film wrestles with the following premise: “all of creation can be told in the story of one family and one family fits into the story of all of creation". The theme is telegraphed through the interior thoughts of the mother: “There are two ways in life, the way of nature and the way of grace. You have two choices which to follow.”
The father has some form of redemption in the end as we hear his own inner journey of repentance after one of the sons dies and he loses his job. “I wanted to be loved because I was great. I’m nothing. I dishonoured the glory. I am a foolish man.” Meanwhile, tellingly, the mother ponders, “The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by. Do good, wonder, hope.”
It’s a stunningly beautiful film in terms of photographic and musical imagery and one that I will certainly watch again in due course. I got the impression that the 67 year-old Malick was reflecting on his own life – its purpose, its meaning, its regrets and its joys – or, at least, trying to tell us the importance of doing so. No doubt, over the coming days, I’ll continue to ponder aspects of the film… and, maybe, I’ll draw some different conclusions.

INTO THE WILD:
Hannah had recently seen “Into The Wild” and suggested that I might like it (which I did). Strangely (and these coincidences seem to have happened an awful lot recently – perhaps something to do with my own changing lifestyle?), I found that the film had many similarities with “The Tree of Life”.
Sean Penn’s 2007 film (note: Penn just happens to have played the disillusioned adult son in “The Tree of Life”!) is a true story about a bright young college graduate, Christopher McCandless, who abandoned all his possessions and hiked off into the wilderness in search of a radical re-engagement with nature, unsullied by money or the career rat-race. In 1992, at the age of 24, McCandless was found dead in the Alaskan backwoods in an abandoned bus he was using as a rough-and-ready bivouac. His life story and passion for the natural world of North America was reconstructed from his journals. It includes the following quotes – which I think could easily have been included in “The Tree of Life”:
“Happiness is only real when shared”.
“The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences”.

harbourside market

We’ve decided to have an art stall at the Harbourside Market, Bristol (next to the Watershed) over the next few Saturdays – 11am until 4pm. It will feature work from Ruth, Hannah and me – but, as I’m the principle stall-minder, it might be worthwhile dropping by just to witness how NOT to run a market stall (eg. trying to keep the rain off the work/retrieving stuff blown away by the wind/smiling inanely at anyone and everyone/charging the wrong prices/talking for the sake of talking/forgetting to note things down in the little black book)…. it would be great to see you.
Beautiful art at affordable prices (how exciting)!

bristol harbour festival 2011

I really enjoy the Harbour Festival (and that’s not just because it’s free!). This year’s was the 40th and, once again, it was blessed with fine weather. There’s always an amazing array of events and venues – stretching for over two miles from SS Great Britain to Castle Park – including music, dance, theatre, circus, children’s play area, food market, stalls and, of course, plenty of boats! There were no less than four main music venues plus four fringe venues. Last year, there were over 250,000 visitors and I suspect this year’s numbers will have been very similar.
It shows Bristol at its very best.

july books

My latest books:
A Life Like Other People’s (Alan Bennett): Somewhat pathetically, when I first picked this up, I hadn’t realised that the book was taken from Bennett’s “Untold Stories” – which we already had on our shelves (and unread by me)! It’s about his parents’ marriage and the rest of his family – focusing on his mother’s depression and her relationship with her two, rather more dominant, sisters. It’s everything you’d expect from Bennett: honest, beautifully-observed, touching, occasionally waspish and frequently very funny.
A Time of Gifts (Patrick Leigh Fermor): This is our latest Book Group book. I’d never read any of Fermor’s books before this one and was intrigued by the prospect, after having read a couple of his obituaries (he died last month, aged 96, “a man of action and an intellectual” and once described by the BBC as a “cross between James Bond, Indiana Jones and Graham Greene”!). The book is regarded by many as being his finest and “nothing short of a masterpiece” by fellow travel writer/intellect Jan Morris. It recounts the first part of his European trek - with an allowance of no more than a £1 a day - to Constantinople in 1933/4, aged 18 (this book covers his journey as far as Hungary). He undertook the adventure with a book in mind – but, strangely, didn’t publish this first volume until 1977 (I now understand that there are THREE volumes, but that the third has yet to be published)! Although he kept detailed diaries at the time, the work is clearly one of “mature recollection” and crammed full with amazing historical, artistic, musical insights – as well as sights, conversations and drinking experiences. Rather like Jan Morris, the descriptions of his journey are fascinating but, for me, his experiences with the people he met on his trek proved to be the most enjoyable aspect of the book. The language is often very flowery (and somewhat pompous and showy) and, initially for me, rather off-putting. However, I found his style almost quaint by the time I’d finished the book. I’ll definitely read the second volume…. in due course!
WH Auden (poems selected by John Fuller): I read this short book because I’m woefully unversed(!) in “poetic stuff” and feel the need to educate myself in such things. These poems were from 1927-1973 – almost reflecting the Patrick Fermor dates above (pure coincidence)! Although I enjoyed many of Auden’s poems, I really wanted some brief words of explanation to help put them in context. I DID however enjoy his use of language and found it helped to read many of the pieces out loud.
Remind Me Who I Am, Again (Linda Grant): This is Grant’s brave account of her mother’s dementia. It’s a frank, painful (but often very funny) story of the family’s struggles with both the illness and the various health/social services authorities – along with another powerful story of her Jewish ancestry and how information withheld for decades suddenly began to emerge as her mother's condition short-circuited the barriers she had kept up all her life. Moira+I experienced a little of what the Grant family went through with Moira’s father, who had vascular dementia for the last five years of his life. This isn’t the sort of book I would normally pick up but, with my own poor memory, I felt I ought to read it! Actually, I found it absolutely fascinating.
Sahara (Michael Palin): I want to be Michael Palin when I grow up…. Yes, I know this is essentially a coffee table book to accompany the TV series (I bought a hardback copy for £2!), but he does write very well (and amusingly, of course)! One day I’d like to experience a little bit of desert(!) and this book has certainly kept the flame alive, albeit with some reservations (relating to diet, the “runs” and being constantly surrounded by people trying to sell you things!).
PS: I’m now about to embark on one of my “summer projects”: reading the mammoth “Team of Rivals” (Doris Kearns Goodwin)…. it could take a LONG, long, long time!

"if I remember correctly... "

I have a pretty poor memory. I THINK that’s always been the case (but perhaps I can’t remember?). When I was being interviewed for the school job six years ago, I was asked if I had any concerns and I replied: "remembering pupils’ names" (and I was largely right!).
I’ve just finished reading two books which highlighted various aspects of memory. The first is essentially a travel book ("A Time of Gifts" by Patrick Leigh Fermor) about the first part of his trek to Constantinople in 1933/4. To pass the time while marching, he recited aloud "a great deal of Shakespeare, several Marlowe speeches, most of Keats's Odes" as well as "the usual pieces of Tennyson, Browning and Coleridge"! I appreciate that times were very different then but, as someone who had severe difficulties remembering a mere SIX lines in a nativity play some 15 years ago (Mary Ayers will have an absolute field day if she reads this!!), Fermor’s feats leave me feeling totally inadequate! The second book ("Remind Me Who I Am, Again" by Linda Grant), written in 1998, is about the author’s account of her mother’s dementia - an illness which I think we all fear. This is an extract towards the end of her book: "Up to the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe and America people who could not read relied on memory... Now the world is full of artificial memory: books, newspapers, films, television programmes, video-tapes, computer memory. The storage capacity of technology is illimitable. It mocks us with all we have forgotten. And we understand too the importance of forgetting lest we go mad with all there is to remember".
I struggle with remembering all sorts of stuff - names, book titles, authors, celebrities, characters from books, foreign languages, jokes, telephone numbers etc etc (the list is endless!). I know very little about the science of memory or recollection, but I suspect that I have a "visual memory". I can describe a book cover, but I’m unlikely to remember its title or the author; I can’t recall the names of characters in books, but think I recognise the names by the shapes of words and use this as a kind of visual shorthand.
No doubt, in my case, much of the "problem" is sheer laziness! People will doubtless be quick to offer advice (memory games and such like) but, unless I really felt I had a worrying medical condition, I’m happy to muddle on in my own sweet way.
One does learn to adapt, of course. Very many years ago, for example, I realised that making lists was a really good way of avoiding worrying about forgetting things – and I used to make daily lists in my filofax (I still make lists, but perhaps not so obsessively!).
In the meantime, where would I be without Google?

the big picture

Ridiculously, apart from “The Way” that I saw with Hannah a couple of months ago (but, for some reason, didn’t blog about), the last film we saw was “True Grit”, back in February. One of my retirement “commitments” is to be a regular cinema-goer so, hopefully, this “blip” won’t be repeated. Alan, Gareth, Iona, Moira+I went to see Eric Lartigau’s “The Big Picture” a couple of days ago – described in the blrb as a “psychological thriller”. Its bizarre plot revolves around a successful French lawyer, played by the impressive Romain Duris, who rather despises his conformist life and harbours secret ambitions to be a photographer and who ends up accidently killing his wife’s lover (a photographer) and stealing his identity....
Very watchable, but I couldn’t help thinking that the film’s logic was somewhat flawed. Surely Google Images would have blown the whistle on his identity?

rosa is two!

Rosa was born on the last day of school term, two years ago. Yesterday, we celebrated her birthday with a lovely picnic in the Rose Garden at Ashton Court with a number of Ruth+Stu+Iris+Rosa’s friends (and us, of course!). The sun shone, the food was excellent (and a certain amount of drink flowed!), lots of happy smiling faces.
Happy birthday Rosa!
Photo: Rosa+Iris…. and just some of the spread (with Jen+Ruth!).

hannah+blair

Moira+I went to a truly magical wedding celebration party in Sunningwell, Oxfordshire yesterday. Blair and Hannah (our Hannah’s bestest friend) had got married on the shores of Loch Lomond a little while ago – with just half a dozen or so guests. They were keen to celebrate the occasion with their wider family and friends and “persuaded” Hannah’s lovely parents Sue+Tony to let them do so at their home. This doesn’t even BEGIN to tell the story, however…. S+T’s converted barn is one of perhaps half a dozen similar beautiful brick+timber clad homes and outbuildings that surround its own small, horse chestnut-treed green (quintessential English village scene!). S+T clearly get on very well with their very sociable neighbours because agreement was obtained to erect a large marquee plus several gazebos, masses of bunting, outdoor children games, portaloos etc – some gardens were used to accommodate tents (and some of the neighbours had even offered their spare bedrooms!) for overnight stays. As we entered the close (not quite the right word?), it felt as if we’d arrived on some expensive film set!
Here are just three of the many memories:
1. Hannah+Hannah (and Felix) were part of the amazing Thame Youth Theatre – from its origins in 1989. So it was lovely to meet up lots of their youth theatre friends again (lots of them were children of friends of ours) – and incredible to realise just how many of them had continued their involvement in theatre and music professionally.
2. Hannah (new bride Robertson) is a simply wonderful singer (bluesy, jazzy) and she sang three songs – accompanied by Rob Dearing on guitar. This started the entertainment off in great style (and generated a few tears from spectators in the process!).... and this high quality was continued throughout the evening. In addition to Hannah, the highlight for me was a young opera singer named Miranda (she’d been a neighbour of Blair+Hannah’s and they used to listen to her practising from their adjoining London flat!). When she hit the first note, it just took your breath away and the audience was immediately captivated (hairs on the back of your neck stuff!) and, once again, at the end, I could see a lot of people wiping their eyes in sheer joy.
3. Last month, some of you(!), may have read that I’d just discovered that a) Tom Porter, my inspirational college tutor, had died last year and that b) he+his wife had been neighbours of Sue+Tony. Well, last night, I actually met Tom’s wife Andree at the party and she seemed delighted to hear about my very fond memories of Tom from circa 1967. She took me off to show me their amazing house, including Tom’s study – and ended up giving me a copy of his final book “Will Alsop – The Noise”. All very emotional!
It was a simply wonderful occasion. S+T were brilliant, generous hosts.

Photo: regrettably and pathetically, I didn't take my camera! This picture was taken on a country walk last month and sums a happy English summer day - just like yesterday!

shy and retired

I’m retired.

It’s a very strange feeling. I am no longer employed. This week at school has been “Activities Week” and, as a result, many staff and pupils have been out of school on various trips (school camp, Germany, France, Spain or just various day excursions). It’s meant that my final working week has been a somewhat surreal experience – LAST Friday definitely felt like the end of term. Despite managing to say my goodbyes to lots of very good friends (involving much hugging!), somewhat predictably, yesterday felt like an anticlimax…. and, because lots of colleagues on school camp had been delayed due to wet tents and general clearing up, not to mention all those en route back from exotic places, there were only a few of us at our end-of-term “pit stop” at the Warwick Arms, Clutton on our respective homeward journeys.
The day ended with another mini get-together drink at the Watershed - with my ex-boss(!) Bex and Ben (having returned from a school trip to Barcelona), Emma (back from school camp) and lift-share Andy (who hadn’t gone anywhere!).... good times!
Photo: Bex, Emma, Ben+Andy at the Watershed.

exit interview

I was granted an “exit interview” at school yesterday.
Actually, it was quite funny because, having accepted the offer of an interview by one of assistant head teachers, I was then offered another one by the school bursar (who, rather strangely, is my line manager). When I queried this, the bursar responded by saying “oh dear, communication with SMT leaves something to be desired doesn’t it” (note: SMT is the “senior management team” to you and me)! I felt like replying: “yes, precisely - please refer to bullet point 5 in my submission”… but I resisted the temptation! Actually, I did end up feeling that I’d been given an opportunity to air my views. Don’t mock, but I’d be compiling a folder of “observations” for the past several months and ended up e-mailing her with my FIVE page submission about an hour before we got together! If you’ve read any of my previous comments (on this blog or on facebook), you’ll be aware that I’ve been somewhat critical of a number of school issues over the past six years.
There are, however, several aspects of the school about which I feel very positive and, hopefully, I was also able to convey this during the course of our meeting. It would be unfair on the school for me to go into detail about our discussions. I will simply say that my principle concerns related to the very poor man-management skills of the “powers-that-be”; the lack of consultation regarding key decisions; and my huge worries about the way the school “does” sixth-form education.
I desperately hope that someone pays attention to the points I raised…. but I’m not holding my breath.

murdoch mayhem....

People are saying that things will never be the same again.

In the past 10 days or so, there seems to have been something of a revolution. Rebekah Brooks has resigned as Chief Executive of News International (and I’ve just heard that she’s actually been arrested!); Rupert Murdoch has issued a full apology; News Corp have withdrawn their BSkyB takeover bid; politicians have apparently lost their fear of News Corp and found their voices; Milliband has called for new media ownership rules to limit Rupert Murdoch's "dangerous" and "unhealthy" concentration of power and, all of a sudden, the world seems to be a better place. It wasn’t too long ago that the likes of Murdoch and Brooks seemed to be issuing instructions via their editorial columns to the country’s politicians.
The trouble is…. I can’t help feeling that, in a few months’ time, either much of this will be long forgotten or the likes of The Daily Mail will be seeking to take advantage. I just hope that the Commons Culture, Media+Sports Committee prove to be effective interrogators when they grill Rebekah Brooks, Rupert and James Murdoch on Tuesday – and provide an effective warning for any future media bullies.

more from the last, mad, “proper” week of term….

The penultimate week of summer term always feels a little unreal. It is effectively the last week of school (next week is “Activities Week” – with lots of staff and students on various school trips to foreign lands, at school camp and music school etc).
Last week seemed even more frantic than usual (in addition to the stuff I mentioned in my previous blog post):
1. Sports Day: This had to be re-arranged due to bad weather the previous week. It’s always a very good event (especially since they started encouraging “proper” crowd participation). In my time at school, despite my competitive nature, our House has never come remotely close to challenging for the top slot (even though we do have some brilliant individual students).
2. Q-Factor (our version of X-Factor!): Due to a mess up by a couple of the other Houses, our House ended up having to fit its “Charities Week” activities into two lunchtimes of last week. Q-Factor has run for the past four years or so and, like X-Factor (even though I’ve never watched it!), encourages “talented” youngsters to perform before their ardent fans. The House staff are usually expected to perform too – but, thanks to Andy+Bex, we managed to get away with appearing in some very funny video clips instead.
3. End-of-Term-Drinks at The Boater, Bath: Always good fun and attended by the vast majority of staff on Friday night. There are always a number of staff leaving (or retiring!) and you can imagine that this gave the evening a surreal feeling for your truly.

As well as some lovely messages and cards from members of staff, I’ve also received some wonderful comments from pupils. These are just three of them (get your hankies ready!):
From a Year 10 student: “Thank you for all your help since Year 7; you have been a great role model and an awesome House Head” (I love the promotion!).
From a Year 10 student: “A huge thank you for all of your help and support throughout some difficult times of mine this year. I feel very glad to have come to you for help and I have found your advice invaluable and I believe your words will stay with me my whole life”.
From a Year 9 student: “This is just a quick message on behalf of my mum and me to say thanks for everything that you have done for us. When I had my operations you were amazing and you helped me out so much; I can't explain how much this is appreciated!
My mum is always commenting on how helpful you are and how quickly you reply to her emails and sort out any situation.
I'm really sad that you're leaving and you will be missed terribly for all the support and encouragement you've ever given. If it wasn't for you my difficulties from my operation would have been ten times harder and you always seem to understand everything which means a lot.
We both wish you the best of luck for the future and we hope you leave knowing how great you were. You will be missed a lot!”
Photo: Quantock athletes parading during the Open Ceremony at Sports Day!

a very tough day at the coal face

Yesterday was always going to be a tough day.
Although there’s another 7 days before the end of term (but, hey, who’s counting?), there are so many activities happening over the next few days that the Head Teacher decided that after school yesterday was the time wish formal fond farewells to departing staff (which includes me). I knew I would be expected to say a few words – but, thankfully, there were three senior members of staff (who had clocked up over 100 years of service at the school!) who would be taking centre stage.
These are just five lovely things that happened to me yesterday:
1. Just before lunchtime, a girl who had left school a year ago and had been the bane of my life (behaviour, school refusing, exclusions, attitude etc etc) knocked on the door of the House office. “Sir, I’ve come along to a meeting about my younger brother and have just been told you’re leaving… and I wanted to say goodbye and thank you for all you did… and, sir, I’ve got a job and I’m on hairdressing course and I’ve sorted myself out and I now realise how stupid I was not to have made more of myself when I was at school. But, sir, I DO realise that now!”.
2. Just after lunchtime assembly – Bex (my 27 year old brilliant boss) told me I had to accompany her to a “little” presentation. Fine, I thought, that’s very nice of them – perhaps a handful of House tutors and maybe a bottle or two of red wine handed over? But, instead of being taken into the House office, I was directed into one of the large classrooms in the Language Block – and I suddenly realised that there were about 50 members of staff sitting waiting for me (believe me, with our school’s split lunchtime, this is pretty amazing in itself!). I was made to read out a message contained in a large envelope: “We thought that after 6 years at Norton Hill, you deserved a proper break, so…. we are whisking you and a guest away to Spain for a golfing extravaganza at a time to suit you!”. It transpired that nearly 70 people had clubbed together to make this possible.
I was absolutely gobsmacked…. stunned…. speechless… humbled.
I uttered some incoherent words of gratitude and thanks, but it was one of those occasions when words weren’t really enough.
3. A small group of Year 10 girls (some on the verge of tears) knocked on the House office door and wanted to say goodbye (and have their photograph taken with me – what a thrill for them!) before departing off to school camp the following day.
4. This involved the after-school presentations: I managed to get away with only having to speak for a couple of minutes and, hopefully, was able to convey my genuine appreciation for their tolerance, encouragement and friendship.
5. Finally, I’d put up posters in the staff room at school (and issued invites to school colleagues via facebook) suggested a fun boules evening at Queens Square in Bristol. In the event, 30 people turned (amazing considering that only a dozen or so of teachers at school live in the Bristol area) and we played boules, ate picnics and drank the odd glass of something. It was absolutely lovely.
A truly remarkable, memorable day (or, as Lou Reed would sing: “Just a Perfect Day”).
Photo: I failed to take ANY photographs of the day but these are just two of my amazing bosses, Bex and Kate (I had four during the course of my six years!).

steve+diane’s 25th

Moira+I are lucky enough to have lots of wonderful friends who are younger than us. This policy has, of course, been nurtured over several years - with the express intention of trying to kid everyone that we’re MUCH younger than we really are (needless to say, our friends haven’t be fooled). We’ve just got back from a wonderful weekend in a massive country house and converted barn in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. There were 39 of us in total – all there to celebrate our very special friends’ (Steve+Diane) 25th wedding anniversary. It was just brilliant – we walked, talked, ate, drank(!) and laughed our way through the entire weekend in glorious surroundings and perfect weather. Steve+Diane are AMAZING, generous, lovely people (click here to check out Steve’s 50th birthday celebrations from 4 years ago, for example!). As usual, they’d thought of EVERYTHING – two large fridges were STACKED with bottles of champagne, white wine and beer (note: when we left, the other fridge was jammed full of left-over lasagna from Friday night, copious quantities of exotic cheeses and pizzas …. along with a whole host of other stuff). Outside caterers provided us all with a superb banquet last night and this morning (because we were all clearly in need of yet more food), some of the “boys” cooked up a fantastic full English breakfast – which, of course, we ate outside in glorious sunshine (as you do)…. followed by a “serious” game of boules on the gravelled turning circle (which immediately took on the character of a French town square) in front of the main house.
Happy times, wonderful friends.
Photo: of course, I totally failed to take pictures of lots of happy people consuming food and/or quaffing alcohol. This is the nearest I’ve got – just a few of the party having reserved their seats early - in anticipation of the “Big Breakfast” (and some consuming black coffee or, in Julie’s case, water in a vain attempt to alleviate their hangovers)!

morals, honesty, integrity…. and greed

Was it really only two years ago that we were applauding journalists for exposing the scandal of MPs’ expenses? With yesterday’s decision by Murdoch’s News Corporation to close the News of the World newspaper after revelations and allegations of wide-spread phone-hacking of “ordinary people” (not just celebrities and politicians) by journalists, the boot is now definitely on the other foot. Of course, that’s not quite true – because, for example, it was only in January that Andy Coulson was forced to resign as David Cameron's press spokesman over the role he played in the phone-hacking scandal as editor of the News of The World newspaper (I could go on about Rebekah Brooks, Cameron, Blair....). The police are apparently now investigating some 4,000 possible other phone-hacking targets. Sadly, if an investigation outlined on Channel 4 News last night is to be believed (and Jon Snow is the only journalist I’m prepared to trust these days!), individuals from within the police force are thought to have been paid for tipping-off journalists on various cases.
Thanks to the greed and dishonesty of a relatively few(?) politicians, journalists and police officers, we’re left asking ourselves: “so, who CAN we trust?”.
What a tragic, sickening state of affairs.
Ironically(?), today WAS to have been the day when Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, was going to issue his final definitive ruling agreeing to News Corporation’s bid to takeover BSkyB. In the circumstances, it’s hardly surprising that he’s decided to defer judgement (until September?) – by which time, he’ll no doubt hope that the dust will have settled.... (and he’ll give his consent anyway).
And, as far as News Corporation’s decision to close The News of the World is concerned, this seems to me to be no more than a cynical management manoeuvre. It just so happens that, only last month, News International created a "managing editor structure" at its four newspapers (a move towards a form of integration of daily and Sunday titles?).... oh, and Richard Caseby was appointed group managing editor with responsibility for The Sun and News of the World.... oh, but, of course, the plug is about to be pulled on the News of the World.... oh, will that mean the "Sunday Sun" will rise from ashes?
Genius!

june/july books

Sorry, these are my latest batch of books from the last few weeks:
Things Can Only Get Better (John O’Farrell): I first started reading this at a time when I didn’t do very much reading (if that makes sense) and ended up abandoning it – not because it wasn’t a good book, but simply because I seemed to have abandoned reading! I’ve just read it in a matter of a few days and this is a lovely, very funny book (especially if you’re not a supporter of the Conservative Party!). It tells of the “eighteen miserable years in the life of a Labour supporter” and I found it to be both hilariously funny and movingly sad. The final chapter (victory in the General Election of 1997) immediately took me back to that wonderful all-night election-watching time and the glorious, sunny dawn of a new (New?) Labour government on 2 May. How times change!
Silas Marner (George Eliot): This is one of those “classics” that I’d never previously got round to reading. Written in 1861, it’s a tale of morality, community, ethics, love and hope…. and perhaps also a critical response to the industrial revolution, class and the church. Somewhat ironic perhaps, given the book’s connection to fatherhood, that I finished it on Father’s Day!
The Pilgrimage (Paulo Coelho): I first began reading this about 7 years ago, but found it rather tedious and gave up. I decided to give it another try after recently seeing the film “The Way” (with Martin Sheen). It tells of Coelho’s journey along the pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela with his spiritual guide. I was hugely disappointed in the book – a strange combination of magic, occult, mystical exercises and hocus-pocus.
Peter Cook+Dudley Moore: Goodbye Again (edited by William Cook): Essentially, this is a collection of scripts from their sketches dating back to the mid-1960s and includes some absolutely wonderful stuff. Reading the scripts immediately transported me back in time (I felt as if I could actually hear them). My favourite all-time sketch is “One Leg Too Few”: about a one-legged man auditioning for the role of Tarzan! You can see the actual clip here (it’s brilliant). South (Chris Orsman): This is a powerful sequence of poems telling the story of Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. It provides a wonderful, fresh perspective to a well-known story. I found it compellingly beautiful - particularly the final days.

light at brean

Moira+I went an exhibition of monoprints by Bedminster artist Ruth Ander this afternoon. We’d seen her work before at the SouthBank Arts Trail over the past couple of years and been hugely impressed. This exhibition was entitled “Light at Brean” and depicted the changing light and drama of the weather as it rolls up the Bristol Channel. It’s on at the Brean Cove Café until the end of July (you could combine it with a coastal walk!).
You should see it – it’s simply beautiful.
Photo: Moira talking to Ruth Ander next to some of the monoprints.

last leavers' day

Yesterday was a special day for Year 11s at our school. Definitely a day for dressing up and arriving at school in style. Of course, there were usual limos, vintage cars and the odd London bus, but the show-stopper was a massive white tank (complete with UN insignia) – hired by fourteen boys at the cost of £120 each! And to cap it all, the BBC’s “Points West” local news team had got to hear about it and decided to feature it in their programme yesterday evening. I was even invited to present the Awards at the Year 11’s own party (these include such highly-prized awards as: “Most Likely to End Up working at MacDonald’s”, “Most Likely to Be Rich”, “Most Spoilt” and “Best Assets”!).
Definitely one of the highlights of the school year.
Photograph: Me with four of my favourite people – Quantock House and Sports Captains (Demi, Dan, George and Eloise).

garden again

As I’ve previously indicated, our garden is tiny (5x5m). I’ve been reflecting on how it has changed since we first moved to Bristol in 2003. Initially, we had felt very exposed to our neighbours and, in 2006, we erected a timber screen at the back of the garden which is now well covered by honeysuckle and bamboo. Two years ago we built another timber screen to replace a dilapidated side fence and this too is now starting to mature – we’ve planted an espalier apple tree (which has started to produce fruit) and a climbing rose. Unfortunately, our original aim to grow food hasn’t been wonderfully successful to date – although we do seem to be very popular with the local slug and snail populations!
Photo: garden in June 2009 (top) and in June 2011 (bottom).

may-june books

More books (sorry, but it’s a good way for me to remember stuff!):
In The Blood (Andrew Motion): A rather beautiful memoir of Motion’s childhood. I was pleasantly surprised by his simple writing style (I’d half-expected long paragraphs of clever prose) and was immediately drawn into the book by the opening chapter - which tells of an accident to his mother. Motion is two or three years younger than me and I couldn’t help contrasting our respective life styles as I read the book (Prep and Public schooling, horses, hunting, middle class and pretty wealthy – that’s him, not me!) and his detailed recollections compared with my own rather vague memories of childhood.
Wish Her Safe At Home (Stephen Benatar): This is our third Book Group book so I’d best leave my main remarks for the next meeting! It’s definitely not a book that I would normally have chosen to read, but I actually rather enjoyed it. It’s a novel about a woman who inherits a house in Bristol from her great-aunt – she gives up her job, sheds her old life, becomes a woman of leisure, takes up writing and a whole lot more. An amusing, but unsettling, book.
Getting Through (John McGahern): A series of short stories, set in Ireland. Stories of new life; retirement; forgetfulness; death; friendships; dance committees; love; lost youth; priests; whiskey; sex; music and families. Beautiful writing. It made me realise that there was a time when I loved reading short stories – I read so little that a short story felt like an entire book. Now I find that, instead of quietly reflecting on one of the stories, I’m into the next one before I know it.
Love Wins (Rob Bell): I have a somewhat grudging admiration for Rob Bell. When I first came across him (just before reading Velvet Elvis), I had imagined that he was the pastor of a small religious community in the States; it turned out that he’s the leader of a somewhat larger church community and frequently preaches to audiences of 10,000 or more! The fact remains that he’s really a very good communicator and I very much like his writing style. I hope to see Rob Bell at Greenbelt this summer, so will hopefully be able to form a more balanced view of him then. An encouraging, provocative book - which will no doubt cause outrage within the ranks of the evangelical alliance.
Where Three Roads Meet (Salley Vickers): I’m not quite sure what to make of this book – probably something to do with my relative lack of intellect and knowledge of Greek mythology! Vickers’s re-telling of the tale of Oedipus imagines Sigmund Freud, in his final days, listening to the story (and participating in the dialogue) as told by Tiresias, the blind seer who plays a part in the Greek legend. I thought I was going to love this book, but ended up feeling somewhat disappointed.

tom porter

I received a text message from Hannah earlier today querying if one my college lecturers had been a bloke called Tom Porter… if so, she’d just discovered that he and his wife had lived next door to our good friends Tony+Sue (parents of Hannah’s bestest friend, Hannah!).… but that Tom had sadly died in April last year (aged 72). I think it’s highly significant that one of my daughters had remembered the name of one of my college tutors. Indeed, I had talked about Tom only a couple of days ago when lovely friends Chris and Felicity friends had visited us in Bristol. Tom was an absolutely inspirational figure to me. I arrived at Oxford School of Architecture in 1967 and, frankly, while having a pretty good eye for design, I was probably a student who might have been prone to “play safe”. Art was an important part of the architectural course for the first two years (I very much doubt this is the case these days, more’s the pity) and, for me - through Tom, it provided a wonderful springboard for my architectural career (significantly, I won the “most improved student award at the end of my second year”). I recall a poster I designed for the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (thanks to Tom’s encouragement); I remember him insisting that I went to see the film “2001, A Space Odyssey”; how he introduced me to the new Habitat store; and I certainly remember accompanying him to the Bauhaus Exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1968. As well as producing books on graphic techniques (in conjunction with my college friend Sue Goodman), Tom’s main interest was in the use of colour in architecture. I clearly remember one of the students having an epileptic fit during one of Tom’s art sessions; Tom seemed only mildly concerned – his key reaction was all about how amazing it was that the student concerned had become SO involved in his artwork that it had resulted in his fit!
I love this photograph of Tom – it was definitely taken in the late 60s/early 70s – and is exactly as I remember him (always wearing a brightly-colour tie, loud jacket and with his flowing dark locks!).
A truly inspirational man and someone I remember with huge affection and gratitude.

kielder challenge FINALISTS

Last month, I blogged about our team from Norton Hill+Fosse Way schools (four pupils with disabilities and four without) managing to win the Regional Heats of this brilliant event - by a considerable margin! Well, amazingly, we’ve just heard that the team has actually qualified for the NATIONAL FINAL in the Kielder Forest, Northumberland in September – in other words, they’ve reached the LAST SIX out of more than 200 entries from all over the country! That’s really great news and they thoroughly deserve their success. It’ll be an exciting time for them – flying from Bristol to Newcastle and then staying at the Kielder Forest Adventure Centre. I was lucky enough to accompany a team from our joint schools to the Plate Final in 2006 (just a month before I started blogging – so I can’t get you to click on some old “footage”!) and that was certainly one of the highlights of my time working at the school. Obviously, with retirement imminent, I won’t be with the team this time (in fact, Moira+I will enjoying a French boating holiday with lovely friends Chris+Lal!!). I look forward to hearing all about their adventures from Laura and Jodie.
Photo: teamwork in action at the Regional Heats.

RSC at stratford

I love live theatre. I love the possibility of witnessing something very special (ok, sometimes it doesn’t work out quite like that, but…); a unique experience - being captivated by a piece of theatre or by particular actors or by wonderful stage design.
Moira+I have just spent two days in Stratford, where we were really blessed to be able to see two shows by the Royal Shakespeare Company (“Cardenio” and “The City Madam”). They both proved to be completely captivating productions – simply wonderful acting; brilliantly devised and performed. We saw both productions on the same day (two three-hour shows). It was also lovely that great friends Bob+Christine were able to join us for the “Cardenio” matinee. What made the day even more special was that it was the first time that Felix (daughter Hannah’s husband) had been part of the RSC. He didn’t disappoint! Indeed, Libby Purves’s “City Madam” review in “The Times” concluded thus: “Felix Hayes wins my 2011 award for Best Use of Yorkshire Accent while wearing purple ribbons and lace-trimmed boots” (you have to see the play to appreciate this fully!)! She respectively described the two productions as being “a treat” and “a hoot” and I wouldn’t disagree. Having watched the actors in two utterly contrasting plays, their adaptability and all-round talent was breathtakingly impressive.
Magical theatre at its very best.
PS: This same group of actors has also just started rehearsing the THIRD play in this season’s run (“Midsummer Night’s Dream”).
PPS: It was the first time that Moira+I had been to see a performance at “The Swan” and we were very impressed (it’s a beautiful space); “Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be in the recently re-modelled main theatre, so we can’t wait to return to see that in July/August.
PPPS: The one depressing note was the lack of young people in the audience for both plays (sadly, the average age seemed to be very much older than us!); hardly ANY teenagers or twenty-somethings – despite the fact that the RSC offer special tickets for 16-25 year olds at £5 each.
Photo: a rather poor photograph of the beautiful “Swan” auditorium (but, hopefully, it gives you a "feel" of the space).

desert island discs

In March 2007, I blogged about having a cunning “business plan” (back in the very olden days!) for producing personalised “desert island discs” for ordinary people like you and me. Well, the BBC has finally got round to inviting the public to do just that (you’ve only got a matter of a few days to respond to Radio4’s invitation to submit your own Desert Island Discs). Somewhat pathetically, I still have a page in my filofax (dated 10 December 1988 – blimey, that’s over 30 years ago!) outlining my own selection. Please note the following: a) I’m still waiting to be asked to appear on the programme, b) my original list contained NINETEEN records, c) I’ve just submitted my own list to the BBC (the telephone will be ringing any minute…) and it only contains TWO of my original selections (Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen) and d) I found it absolutely impossible to restrict the list to EIGHT (I could actually have submitted half a dozen lists of eight records).
Anyway, for what it’s worth and in no particular order, this is my final selection (I’d be very interested in hearing about your own versions!):
1. Love Letter (Nick Cave+the Bad Seeds)
2. Cold Water (Damien Rice)
3. Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)
4. Suzanne (Leonard Cohen)
5. I’ve Got You Under My Skin (Frank Sinatra)
6. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (June Tabor)
7. Let It Be (The Beatles)
8. Symphony no.5: 4th Movement (Gustav Mahler)
PS: Actually, this is NOT the list I submitted to the BBC! I ended up realising that my list couldn’t ignore The Beatles or Mahler – so, very reluctantly I deleted: To Be Lonely (Joan As Police Woman) and A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan). How could I?!

bruce+sara's big adventure

This time, some two years ago, Bruce+Sara were trawling the English and Welsh countryside in the hope of finding a suitable property and, crucially, some land on which they could continue to explore and develop their ideas for permaculture living. They finally discovered their new home (a dilapidated barn in some 17 acres) in Llangurig, Powys in mid-Wales – within 300m of the river Wye - and exchanged contracts in January last year. Like us, friends of Bruce+Sara will have been following their progress via Bruce’s lovely FB photographs – but, this weekend, Moira+I were able to experience a little of their big adventure for ourselves. Of course, Bruce+Sara were the perfect, generous hosts and it was absolutely lovely to see them again, but it was also encouraging (and somewhat inspiring) to see how far they’d progressed in a such a short time (not to mention producing the adorable Gracie along the way!). They’ve made a wonderful job of converting the main barn (there are three other smaller barns, plus two massive open sheds!) and incorporating lots of eco-friendly design principles; they’ve created lots of raised beds immediately next to the main barn; they’ve started to convert another barn; they’ve got their own chickens; they’ve moulded some of the higher land to enable them to erect a large poly-tunnel, plus more vegetable-growing space; they’ve planted nearly 5,000 trees…. oh, and they’re also well on their way to establishing their own herb tea business!!
Moira+I are full of admiration and have returned home to Bristol feeling incredibly lazy….
We had a lovely time – lovely friends.
Photo: Moira, Sara+Bruce (+Gracie) walking "their land" – it doesn’t include the vast acres on the other side of the valley!
PS: I didn’t take very many photographs (but here are some) and especially regret not doing so (due to the drizzle) during our beautiful Sunday forest walk.
PPS: Bruce+Sara first introduced us to the concept of permaculture in the garden of their rented house in Bristol in March 2009 (as part of GrowZones).

the long goodbye

The Year 11 pupils at school are now on study leave preparing for their GCSE exams. Before they departed, the wonderful Quantock House and Sports Captains (Eloise+Demi+Dan+George) wanted to present me with a farewell gift from the whole House – even though I don’t actually retire for another eight school weeks. First of all they’d contrived to organise a whole Quantock House photograph so they could present me with a really good framed copy. Then they encouraged all the House tutor groups to contribute comments/greetings/drawings for a brilliantly entertaining “Thank you Mr Broadway love from Quantock" retirement book. There are lots of really lovely, heartfelt notes of thanks including these particular gems: “Thank you for being a good head teacher” (if only they’d paid me accordingly); “you were there when no one else was”; “you were my favourite teacher” (even though I didn’t teach); “heroic and stunning” (really?); “I hope you get a big villa” (the football team or a palace?); “thank you so much for helping when I had my stomach pains”; “no one will forget you” (is this a threat?); “I will never forget your great handwriting and brilliant fun attitude” (a wonderful combination!); “thank you for looking after me through everything”; “I would never have felt welcome without you”; “thank you for being there for me with my ups and downs”; “thank you for supporting me and showing me the light at the end of the tunnel” (did I?) and, finally, “you are, and shall always remain, a legend and by far the most amazing Assistant Head (?)… words cannot describe how much you will be missed”.
Money can’t buy this sort of stuff… very humbling (as well as funny, sometimes) and it reminds you of all the good things about working with young people in education (of course, I could list a lot of bad things too!).
It now feels wrong to have to go on working for another WHOLE term!
Photo: the cover of my lovely, big retirement book.

kielder challenge heats

Our Kielder Challenge team took part in the Regional Heats at Ashton Court yesterday. They were wonderful and we all had a really good day. They ended up Heat winners by a considerable margin and they were absolutely thrilled. There’s even a chance that they might end up at the national finals in the Kielder Forest, Northumberland in September – but only a couple of teams end up qualifying from the Region (and the Region is HUGE!). It’s just a brilliant event.
Photo: Gary, Andrew, Charlie, Charlotte, Chris, Polly, Megan, Roxy and Becky.
PS: Gary was a last-minute substitute for Alihan – who was ill; Charlotte was unable to participate due to an injured foot (she was on crutches) and Polly substituted as reserve.

kielder challenging

We’ve just completed the last of our training sessions in preparation for this year’s Kielder Challenge’s local Regional Heat – which take place in Bristol on 20 May. As I’ve mentioned before, four pupils from our school work with the four from Fosse Way (a school catering for young people with physical disabilities and/or severe learning difficulties) in a series of outdoor challenges. It’s such a rewarding event and SO good working with these wonderful individuals.
Photo: Chris, Alihan, Charlie, Roxy, Becky, Polly, Andrew and Megan.

centenary school photograph

We had a pretty disrupted afternoon at school today with pupils assembling for a whole-school photograph to mark the school’s centenary. The main photograph was taken in two separate sittings and, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, the arrangements seemed to go remarkably well. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather – it started raining 30 minutes after we’d finished. Sadly, the only staff members appearing on the whole-school version were the Head and Deputy Head Teachers – with a separate staff image taken at the end of school (to avoid complete chaos!). It’ll be very interesting to see the final results. Photo: just a few of the pupils waiting to be snapped this afternoon.

paul lewis at st george's

Somewhat pathetically, I decided to forego the second meeting of our newly-formed book group (even though it was at our house AND I’d read the book!) and, instead, attend a Paul Lewis piano concert at St George’s, Bristol. I’d watched one of Lewis’s televised BBC Proms last summer (a Beethoven piano concerto) and had been mesmerized by his performance. I’d missed out on seeing him in February due to Gail’s wonderful birthday celebrations and vowed then that I would try to ensure I saw him perform the next time he was in Bristol – and, of course, one of my “resolutions for retirement” was to be a more regular concert-goer (yes, I know I haven’t retired yet, but it’s important to get in some practice!). Last night featured Schubert’s piano sonata (no.18 in G D894, if you must know!) as the main piece. I’m not a particular Schubert fan but the concert was mightily impressive and I was utterly captivated by Lewis’s stunning, masterly execution. Not only do I struggle to see how anyone can play a musical instrument with such technical accomplishment, but also just how anyone can learn such complicated pieces “by heart” and play for over an hour. A wonderful evening.
Photo: you’re not allowed to take photographs during the concert, so I decided to take one of Lewis’s piano instead, before the concert started! As you can see, I had a brilliant seat in the gallery.
PS: Amazingly, during the interval, I bumped into Richard+Sarah (good friends and Felix’s parents – Felix being married to our daughter Hannah, you understand!), who had travelled down from mid-Wales especially for the concert.
PPS: I actually got back home in time to grab a glass of wine before the Book Group meeting had ended (we call ourselves “The Slow Readers Group”). They were pretty scathing about: a) my concert-going, b) that I was the only member who had cried reading the book and c) that I had taken so much pleasure in the change of font for different chapters featuring the two principal characters!

royal wedding day

This time last week, it seems that I was amongst the very few people in the country NOT to have been following the royal wedding. Instead, Moira+Gareth+Alan+I spent the day enjoying the beauty of the Somerset/Wiltshire countryside walking between Freshford and Bradford-on-Avon, along the banks of the Frome and Avon rivers (which also just happened to take in a pub lunch). A really lovely day amid stunning surroundings and rather nice people!
Photo: various images en route.

april-may books

More books (sorry):
Cities of the Plain (Cormac McCarthy): The last of “The Border Trilogy” books. I’ve seen someone describe the books as a “coming-of-age story” and I think they’re probably right (certainly not a “traditional western” as I’ve also seen them described!). Idealism and optimism of youth set against the reality and harshness of the “real world”. I found them quite magical.
Lent for Everyone – St Matthew (Tom Wright): As the name suggests, I’ve been using this as my Lenten study book. Even though I’m not a great admirer of Tom Wright’s writings (having previously been irritated and disappointed by “Surprised by Hope”, for example), I did find some of his insights into St Matthew’s gospel quite helpful - and his Good Friday comments particularly powerful. I certainly enjoyed the discipline of the daily readings.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery): I originally read this last Autumn, but I’ve just re-read it because it’s our Book Club’s latest book (even though I’m going to miss the meeting!) – and found it even more charming and uplifting this time round.
Will You take Me As I Am – Joni Mitchell’s Blue Period (Michelle Mercer): Mitchell’s “Blue” is probably my favourite album (if I was only allowed one, then it would be this one) - clearly, this could have something to do with it coinciding with my uni-days of the late 60s and early 70s (the album came out in 1971)! Despite its rather haughty attempts to contrast Mitchell’s writings with those of St Augustine of Hippo and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the book provides a fascinating (for me) background to the album – eg. going to live in the Matala Caves, Greece for a couple of years from Spring 1970, feeling somewhat “in crisis”. The book was published in 2009; Mercer’s not a brilliant writer, but the book’s well researched and informative. I adore Mitchell’s music but probably wouldn’t like her as a person (too much ego? selfish? arrogant?)… and I’d be much too boring to be her friend!
Editor (Max Hastings): I’ve long admired Hastings as a military journalist, but this is specifically a book about his time as the editor of “The Daily Telegraph” (not really my kind of newspaper!) between 1986 and 1995. Frankly, despite him not being quite as a right-wing as most of the Telegraph journalists he first inherited, the book shows him up to be a rather pompous, arrogant, wealth-seeking, old-fashioned Conservative who seems to pay scant regard to the real world or to the likes of you or me (somewhat outrageously describing the not-so-well-off as the “underclass” at one point!). Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating book (and very well written) – especially describing the political squabbles at the end of the Thatcher era and his less-than-complimentary views of the Prince of Wales.

ten tors

I helped out over the weekend with Ten Tors practice on Dartmoor. It was the last chance for some thirty pupils from school (14-15 year olds) to secure their places in the final team selection for the event itself on 14+15 May. All pupils had previously gained their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Awards as a pre-qualifier for consideration for team selection. I love watching the mix of the “gifted and talented” individuals (who seem to be brilliant/determined at everything they do) and those pupils who are often associated with poor behavior/attitude working together quite brilliantly. At least half the pupils taking part this year are girls and - this isn’t a sexist remark in any way - it’s amazing to see even the tiniest of them “lugging” their kit across the moor with comparative impunity!
It’s a very humbling experience to see them grow in confidence and self-belief.
Photo: If you think it’s easy, why don’t YOU try walking 35 miles over Dartmoor (often over very rough and difficult terrain) carrying a heavy rucksack containing a tent, a sleeping bag, cooking facilities, food, water, spare clothing etc?